Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-02-19
The Richmond and Chesapeake
Railroad.

ESSEX COUNTY.
To the Editor Of Me Dispatch:
was very much pleased to see in the
issue of the daily Dispatch of the 18th
instant that the Chamber of Commerce
of the city of Richmond had taken &C
ton in reference to the Richmond and
Chesapeake railroad and expressed an
earnest desire to see the road built, but
/ regretted to see the second resolution
voted down. / think it high time the
company should inform the public
whether the road is TO be built or not;
and if so, when.
More than year ago the officers in
passing through this section assured
the people that the road would be i'm
mediately built; that they had the
money in hand, and the road would be
rapidly pushed to completion. They
purchased a plant on the Wicomico for
dep6ts, &c. commenced work on that
end, and gave every assurance that the
road would be rapidly built.
The work, which consisted in clear
ing off some ties from the roadbed,
was soon suspended under the plea that
nothing more could be done until they
secured charter for tunnel under the
city of Richmond, and as soon as this
was secured the work would be pushed
all along the line, and that the road
would be built and in running order to
the Wicomico by the 1st of August,
1886. The charter for a tunnel was
secured, / think, nearly year ago, but
nothing has been done since. But the
engineer informs the Council that the
scheme has been defedted By prOmi-
nent Richmond citizen Mrowing cold
Woter on the Increment.
A great syndicate with its millions,
with charters in hand and work already
commenced, with money invested, de-
feated by prominent citizen throwing
cold water on the scheme, who is in no
way connected with the work This is
certainly very remarkable statement.
have heard that ga straw would
show how the wind blows" but never
that private citizen could by throwing
cold water circumvent the movements
of great railroad syndicate.
This road would pass through coun-
try fertile in all the resources of agri-
culture; it crosses the Pamunkey, Mat
taponi, Rappahannock, and runs for
miles along the borders of the Potomac,
the rich valleys of which rivers could be
easily made feeders for the road, the
whole extent of which they are naviga-
BILE. and all of this wealth of product
could be poured into the lap of Rich
mond.
Virginia has contributed more to the
building up of Baltimore than her own
State, Maryland. All of Northern Vir-
ginia. the Valley, much of Piedmont,
and all of Tidewater Virginia, as stated
by one of your resolutions, is sub
servient to Baltimore, and | may add
humbW subsorvient, for we have no
alternative but to ship there and trade
there, greatly to our disadvantage.
Not only this, but Virginia gave her,
without money and without price,
much of the highway through which
she draws the immense supplies from
the granaries of the West, which con-
stitutes her one OF the CHEF maritime
ports on the coast.
From all this "she has grown fat,
and kicks" For what we ship there we
rarely get quotations, and for what we
buy we pay the highest prices. Our
people would be glad to be relieved
| from this thraldom of subserviency,
and the movement for a railroad was
heralded as the harbinger Of our indie
pendence.
l believe our people, without excep-
ton, concur fully in what l have said
above, and would gladly transfer their
trade to Richmond iftthey had it in
their power.
By glance at the mapit will be seen
what an immense territory, directly and
indirectly, would serve as feeder to
this road, most of which might be Sc
cured to Richmond. 1t is strange, I'M
der the circumstances, more interest is
not exhibited by your people. l hope
this matter will be kept before them,
and if the present company abandons
| the enterprise some other will take hold
of it and push it to completion.
OMEGA.